MY BULLIED SON: Errolyn Pierre with her bullied son Keyshawn Pierre, 14, who may have suffered a fractured skull after he was beaten by two schoolboys...

A 14-YEAR-OLD student of Pleasantville Secondary School had to be warded at San Fernando General Hospital after he was beaten by two other schoolboys on Wednesday evening while awaiting transportation outside the school’s compound

It is believed that Form One student Keyshawn Pierre may have suffered a fractured skull because of the beating. In light of this latest act of bullying, first vice-president of the Trinidad and Tobago Unified teachers Association (TTUTA) Devanand Sinanan is calling for the urgent intervention of government in dealing with the issue of bullying in the nation’s schools.

“There was a marked increase in violence in schools following the ban on corporal punishment,” Sinanan noted. He lamented that nothing was put in place since the removal of that form of punishment and students were “taking advantage” of the situation.

Pierre’s mother Errolyn, 39, who described herself as a single parent said her son has been a victim of bullying for the past year while attending the school. According to a police report, the incident occurred at 2.45 pm on Wednesday outside the school compound.

Speaking from his hospital bed yesterday morning, Keyshawn of Hillcrest Gardens, Retrench Village in San Fernando, said he was confronted by two boys earlier in the day on Wednesday when he went to check a friend in another Form One classroom.

He said he was blocked from entering and pushed out of the classroom. He said to defend himself he pushed back one of the students. “But when I pushed the student, he and his friend ganged up on me and made as if to beat me but other students stopped them,” Pierre said.

Pierre said that during the lunch break the two boys began “stalking me” around the school. “They followed me when I went to the cafeteria and they came in front of me and started telling me I should never have come into their classroom and how they will deal with me.”

Pierre said he did not know the two students were waiting for him when school was dismissed. “I was walking with my friends to get a car to go home and I saw them (the two boys) start running after me. I began to run as fast as I could but they caught up with me and one of them grabbed me by the neck while the other started cuffing me on the head, nose and mouth,” Pierre said.

As the blows rained down, Keyshawn said he started “blacking out”. A schoolteacher who was driving out of the school, came out of her vehicle and intervened causing the boys to flee. Pierre’s mother Errolyn said her son was still “in and out of consciousness.” Errolyn said she remains in shock and wants action to be taken immediately.

“My son could have been killed with the blows he got. I am still in shock,” said the emotional mother of five. Communications specialist at the Education Ministry Yolanda Morales Carvalho said investigations into the incident are being conducted. Carvalho said the ministry was very concerned about the incident and has already alerted student support counselling for Keyshawn.

“All necessary measures of discipline would be taken,” Carvalho assured. Up to late yesterday the two 14-year-old students in company with their parents were being questioned by police officers.